ABSTRACT
Al-Harith has a purse of coins stolen in the bazar. They pursue the thief and corner him in a courtyard. The thief reveals himself to be Abu Zayd. Threatening to throw the coins down a well, he offers to gain his freedom by telling a story about one of the coins in the purse. This coin is scratched across its surface with runic lettering. Abu Zayd relates that he accompanied the Abbasid ambassador, Ibn Fadlan, to meet with king of the Bulghars of the Volga River. While they are there, Abu Zayd encounters a northern people, known in Arabic as Rusʾ, and sees similar lettering applied to their religious objects.
